Being a collector is often an odd pursuit. You get the high of a great acquisition on one side or the consternation of “Why did I buy this?” on the other. Who among us has not muttered that question the day after a convention?

I recently attended Niagara Falls Comic Con and I didn’t buy much. I picked up three DC comics, leaving me 17 short of owning the complete DC run. (Of the TOS-era, which is all I collect.) I have all the Gold Key and Marvel comics so I am now closing in on completing what I consider the mainstream classic set. And I am getting them the old-fashioned way: by flipping through boxes at cons. No eBay. It’s more fun and I get to chat with comics dealers. 

I do own this DVD with PDFs of all the mainstream comics from 1967 to 2022 and it’s great, but I like owning them in paper.

I also bought this.

Why? Three reasons, none of them all that logical. First, I had never seen it — and that is a huge draw for me. There are a bunch of collectibles I don’t want (I am looking at you, Funko Pops) and collectibles I can’t afford but it is rare for me to spot something I have never seen. Reason two: it is unused and in great condition, even though it is 44 years old. Condition is a big factor if you collect vintage toys, trading cards, comics or anything else that was marketed to kids. Third, the dealer was a nice guy and he only wanted $15, which was reasonable.

So, I have reasons, but the item itself is silly. The story is nonsensical and it reads like the publisher cut a bunch of pages to save money.

Read it yourself.

Why is Kirk talking in numbers? Why did Dr. Rycho put some Starfleet personnel in sleeper tubes? Why is McCoy suddenly unconscious on the ground? “This will revive Dr. McCoy,” says Dr. Burton, but how did he get knocked out? 

And then I did a bit of research and discovered my guess was correct: the publisher cut pages. My new acquisition is actually a Merrigold Press Design reprint of an earlier Whitman Publishing book, and I learned from this page at Memory Beta that chunks of the original story are missing here, including the bit when Rycho threw knock-out powder at McCoy and Spock, explaining why the doctor was on the ground.

So this is a really lazy product, even for a kids’ activity book. But it has Star Trek on the cover, it’s vintage and in good shape, and the dealer was a nice guy. So now it’s in my collection. 

Postscript

And then it got worse. I was on eBay moments after finding that Memory Beta page and I am now the proud owner of the Whitman version as well. It was $19 including shipping and will arrive soon.

Being a collector can be weird.